Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION) (4 page)

BOOK: Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION)
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CHAPTER FOUR

 

Radeem, Tahj, and the freed girl ran down the deserted hallways, the palace now eerily quiet. The screams and shouts had died away, and not a soul was in sight. No servant, no minister—everyone had taken cover or met their end. There was no conversation among the three fugitives. They retraced Radeem and Tahj’s earlier steps, grateful with each twist and turn not to run into any of Boltar’s men. Radeem led the way with Tahj following, the girl’s hand clutched in his as she trailed behind.

When they got to the door Radeem had opened before, they only needed to glance out the small window in the top of it to see a handful of Boltar’s men gathered outside. Radeem mopped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “We have to get past them to the horses,” he commented between pants, gesturing out the window. “It’s the only way “I can distract them,” the girl offered. Radeem and Tahj turned to stare at her. “I can distract them so you can get to the horses,” she reiterated, trying to convince them. “Just be sure to return for me.”

Radeem nodded, but Tahj wasn’t convinced. He grabbed Radeem’s sleeve. “It’s too dangerous.”

“She just rode that monster in your bedroom like he was an unbroken horse,” Radeem protested. “She can do it.”

“I can do it,” the girl seconded. She glanced down at her outfit, splattered with blood, and it seemed to give her an idea. Before Tahj could argue further, she slipped out the door and into the sunshine.

Tahj clenched his jaw and sank down resignedly so he could watch safely from behind the door. The girl stumbled forward a few paces, moaning, and several of the soldiers looked up from their conversation, casting a glance in her direction. Tahj jumped up, concerned for her, but Radeem laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait.”

“Are you crazy? Something’s obviously wrong with her.”

“No,” Radeem said slowly. “I think she’s faking to distract them.”

Tahj took another look. Now, four of the soldiers had turned to watch the girl coming toward them with interest. She called out to them weakly and then swooned, falling hard to the dusty ground. The group of guards rushed to her side, dropping to their knees to form a circle around her, arguing with each other excitedly about what they should do.

“Come on.” Radeem slid through the doorway. Tahj had no choice but to follow.

They stuck close to the wind-chafed walls, ducking into and out of the shadows as they nervously watched the group assembled around the girl. The girl had led the men off to the right a little, so Tahj and Radeem headed left along the building until they reached a gate. Seeing it as their best means of escape, they carefully lifted the latch, praying with each inch the rusty metal wouldn’t squeak and give away their presence. Halfway up, the pin scraped loudly as it slid and the two men froze.

T
he argument over what to do about the girl at their feet became a heated one, providing a cover for the escapees’ movements. Once the doors were unlocked, Radeem pushed them open several feet, and the two continued around to the intersecting courtyard wall, scooting alongside it until they reached the livery. They stole inside, unnoticed. Radeem quickly headed over to find horses but Tahj paused at the door, listening as the girl pretended to revive.


Where am I?” she said faintly. There was a man on either side grasping her hand. They supported her back as she sat up shakily.

“Are you feeling well,
Doshizeh
?” Tahj heard a deep voice ask.

“Come on.” Radeem stood behind him, leading two saddled horses by the reins with packs on their backs, which would hopefully contain something useful. Radeem stared at Tahj in wonderment. “If I didn’t know you better, I would believe you weren’t interested in getting away at all. You
need to get away from that window before you’re seen.”

Seeing the horses, Tahj became more animated. One was a deep chestnut brown with a gleaming black mane, the other entirely black. Radeem handed Tahj the reins to the chestnut.

“But this is your horse.”

Radeem patted the steed’s neck lovingly. “But you’re the prince. It’s more important you get away. And Balamore is the fastest stallion east of the Mediterranean, so…you ride him.”

Tahj knew what a sacrifice it was for Radeem, as he had saved his wages for a year to buy Balamore. He was certain Radeem and Balamore had bonded when taking part in various skirmishes along the borders of the kingdom. Tahj found himself at a loss for words. “Thank you,” he managed, his voice rough.

Radeem gulped. “Yeah. So, get on.” Tahj put his foot into the stirrup. “I’ll get the girl,” Radeem added off-handedly. Tahj’s head snapped around. “For the same reason,” Radeem explained. “Two riders will slow a horse down.”

Tahj reached down to pat Radeem’s stomach. “No offense, friend, but I think the girl and I will still be lighter than you.” Noting Radeem was opening his mouth to protest he added, “Besides, I
am
the prince.” He swung himself up into the saddle and gazed down on his friend with an amused smile. “
I’ll
get the girl.”

Radeem smiled in turn. “You are the prince,” he said snidely, with a slight bow. He slapped Balamore’s flank and then hopped up in his own saddle, steering his steed toward the barn doors, which were open on the opposite side. The pair spurred their horses forward and came around the side of the building at a full-out run, bearing down on the soldiers who had just recognized the sound of hoof beats and started to rise.

Even through the dust swirling around in the narrow courtyard, Tahj could see the girl’s radiant smile as she caught sight of them. Unnoticed, she backed away from the group. Tahj and Radeem ran through the men, scattering them as they leapt to get out of way of the charging horses, the pounding of hoofs thundering in their ears. The riders flew past the girl, but then Tahj turned his horse’s head back.

“It’s the prince!” one of the men shouted with surprise, reaching for the sword at his belt.

The girl ran to Tahj’s side, and he reached down to grasp her arm, hauling her on board behind him. She stuck her foot in the stirrup he had withdrawn his boot from and vaulted onto the horse. It was a difficult move, but she was light and lithe, and with Tahj’s borrowed strength they made it look easy. Tahj turned his horse’s head back to the east and they sprinted away, ducking through the low gate he and Radeem had opened, bolting off into the countryside.

Tahj bent over the horse’s neck, and the girl followed suit, melding her body against his, hands strapped tightly around his chest. He glanced over and Radeem was doing the same thing, minimizing the wind resistance, he and his mount seeming like they were formed into one unit. They were in that state now where it seemed like the horses were almost flying over the ground, their hooves landing
almost as one, necks stretching up and down, straining forward with every ounce of energy they possessed.

Tahj turned to look forward. They were about halfway to a forest at the foothills of the mountains, but when he chanced a glance behind, he saw they were being hotly pursued. They had to reach the trees to lose those who followed. He knew Radeem was thinking the same thing as he was: hit the trees then change course, perhaps doubling back in the direction of the palace just to throw the soldiers off all the more.

He tried not to think about how comforting the heat from the girl’s body felt as they rode. Or about the way his heart had thrilled when her hands first slid up over his chest to get a firmer grip on his shoulders from beneath. Tahj banished the thought of the warmth that flooded him when she laid a cheek on his back so trustingly. He unconsciously drew himself closer to her, sealing all the gaps between them.

Their pursuers were also closing the gap. He could occasionally hear their horses’ hoof beats landing in the quiet between their own, and catch a cry or two, or a horse’s impatient snort. Tahj heard a
whoosh
of air close to his ear and saw a blur of motion out of the corner of his eye. Something buried itself in the sand a few feet ahead of them. He realized arrows were flying around them, a flurry at first, and then sporadically. He heard Radeem cry out and saw him fall forward, lying across his horse’s neck and beginning to slip perilously to the side. Tahj called out his friend’s name, the dust making his throat dry and muffling his shout. At the same time, the girl’s arms squeezed him tightly and he heard her gasp once, loudly, and then she was again silent.

She saw the arrow pierce Radeem, and is frightened
.
Switching the reins to one hand, Tahj reached back to pat the girl’s leg in an effort to reassure her, even though he was, himself, still concerned.

Tahj looked over for a second time and saw with relief that Radeem had righted himself in the saddle and was now using his arms to encourage even more speed out of his mount. The trees weren’t far off, but it seemed like it was an eternity before they got to them, the branches seeming to reach out and pull the trio into the safety of their shade. Radeem and Tahj weaved through the trunks as only expert horsemen could, making a wide curve back toward the palace. Ballamore seemed to be made for this sort of action. He instinctively avoided losing his riders to wayward limbs, leaning from side to side, almost performing a dance with the surrounding trees.

The group behind them immediately thinned out when they entered the tree line, some losing sight of their prey right away in the murky light. The sun had been dropping quickly as they shot over the wide plain, and its remaining, weak rays bounced off, unable to penetrate the foliage. As they traveled farther and farther in, the soldiers lost more men. Unseated by hostile branches, they found themselves lying dazed and bruised underneath the towering mulberry and witch hazel trees, which stood over them like old ladies, chastising them with hands on their hips.

Radeem and Tahj lost the rest, changing courses whenever they
were out of their enemies’ eyesight on the other side of a small hillock or outcropping of rock. They rode farther on, not wanting to chance running into anyone, until the moon became tangled in the branches above them and the horses became fatigued and slowed to a walk, snorting, and twitching the damp skin on their necks. The only sounds they heard now were the jingle of the reins and the plodding of the hooves beneath them.

“Let’s stop,” Radeem suggested wearily, bringing his horse alongside Tahj’s. “I need to take care of this,” he added, waving a hand, and even in the pale moonlight Tahj could see the arrow shaft projecting from the back of Radeem’s thigh. Radeem swung his uninjured leg over the saddle and lay for a moment on his stomach, catching his breath, before carefully sliding to the ground. Even so, he cringed in pain and hobbled around for a minute, cursing loudly.

Behind Tahj, the sound seemed to awaken the girl, who stirred, though still leaning heavily on his back. She moaned softly and finally pushed off of him to sit up. Tahj dismounted and reached up to help her down. To his surprise, she practically fell into his arms, and as he supported her he realized her clothing was wet. He pulled his hand back and held it up in the silver moonlight, recognizing the crimson liquid running between his fingers.

“She’s been shot!”

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

“What?” Radeem asked, his voice high. He straightened up from where he leaned against a tree, observing his own wound.

Tahj swept the girl up into his arms and she mumbled something incoherently, perhaps in another language. He walked forward with his burden, kneeling down in the soft earth beneath the trees. Gingerly, he bent the girl’s body so he could see her back, and there was the shaft of an arrow buried in her shoulder, broken off, no doubt from being bashed against low branches. Tahj couldn’t imagine the pain that must have caused her. He cursed softly and laid the girl on the ground on her side. She lay limp, though again murmuring something he couldn’t understand as he rose to return to Ballamore. Maybe she was calling out for someone.

Radeem limped over to the girl, but couldn’t manage to bend his leg so he, too, could examine her. Tahj came back, having ripped the pack from Ballamore’s back. “Where did they get her?”

“Shoulder,” Tahj answered shortly, rummaging through the bag as he knelt beside the girl. He pulled out a lightweight shirt and tore it into strips. Radeem watched silently, now seeming oblivious to his own wound. Tahj carefully dabbed at the injury with one of his makeshift bandages, trying to steady his trembling hands. He looked up after a while. “What should I do?”

Radeem shrugged, apparently uncertain of the best course of action.

“Dammit, man! You’re a soldier. Don’t you know something I can do to help her?”

The captain thought about it. “You should probably pull it out, if you can.”

Tahj peered down at his helpless patient. Her eyes were closed, face pale and still. With a sigh, he got a firm grasp on what was left of the arrow, which was about the width of his hand, and, whispering a short prayer, swiftly pulled it straight out. The girl cried out and, out of reflex, rolled over onto her back.

“No. No.” He rolled her onto her side again, afraid the wound would get dirty.

“I’ll get some water.” Radeem began to hobble over to his horse, which was grazing a few feet away.

“But your wound—”

Radeem waved him off and retrieved a gourd, wrapped in goatskin, that hung from a string. Returning with it, he handed the gourd to Tahj, who unstopped the spout and poured the contents gently over the wound. Even so, the girl shook violently and opened her eyes. She seemed disoriented, confused, and frightened as she tried to jerk away from them.

“Ohh! What are you doing? Leave me alone!” Seeing the two men hovering over her seemed to frighten her. “Don’t touch me!” she cried, scrambling onto her elbows and using her feet to back away from them.

Tahj bobbled the gourd as he tried to calm her, sloshing water everywhere. “Please, don’t move. You’ve been shot.”

The girl turned to peer at Tahj and seemed to recognize him then. Her head swiveled quickly to peer at Radeem in the darkness. “H-how d-did I get here?”

“We escaped on horseback.” Tahj explained, moving tentatively closer.

She nodded, licking her lips and still looking from one to the other distrustfully. She shivered, her wet clothing no doubt making her cold.

“I’ll start a fire,” Radeem suggested.


I’ll
start a fire,” Tahj snapped, his nerves frazzled. “After I check your leg,” he added more kindly.

Tahj rose and crossed to help his friend to the ground in order to examine his wound. “It doesn’t appear to be too bad,” he commented, grabbing the shaft to remove it with both hands.

“Wait!” Radeem was sweating, his face tense as he reached back to grab Tahj’s arm. “That’s going to hurt.”

Tahj smiled, relaxing for the first time. “You are acting like a child.”

“Well, why don’t you let me pull a hunk of wood out of your leg, then,” Radeem barked, glancing at the girl, seeming embarrassed by his weakness. She watched the two men, still reclining on her elbows but looking less frightened.

“On the count of three, then.”

Radeem nodded uncertainly.

“One, two…”

Radeem screamed in agony. “By the light of Asman, man! Why didn’t you do it carefully, like hers?” he grumbled.

Tahj ignored him, moving to retrieve the strips of cloth on the ground near the girl. Seeming to understand what he was doing, she handed one to him. He paused, gazing into those big, dark eyes of hers. “Thank you.” She nodded again, and a glimmer of a smile touched her lips.

Tahj turned back to Radeem, shaking his head to clear it a little. She had such a strange effect on him. He wrapped a strip tightly around Radeem’s thigh, and this time the captain only winced and sucked in his breath a little when Tahj tied it off, but then he scooted back, resting against a tree trunk with his injured leg bent at the knee, his other leg straightened in front of him. Tahj returned to the girl’s side. “Can I bind your wound?” he asked, squatting and staring into her jewel-like eyes. She nodded, sitting all the way up.

Tahj tied the remaining strips together, making one long bandage. “I’m going to loop it over your right shoulder and then under your left arm.” Again she nodded. He began to work the strip as he had described, chuckling nervously. “You’re quiet.”

The girl laughed, surprising him. “If only my brothers could hear you say that.”

Tahj passed the end of the strip from hand to hand, careful to not touch her as he passed in front of her. “You have a big family then?”

She nodded. “Two sisters and five brothers.”

His eyebrows rose. “Five?” He finished, tucking the end of the bandage into the folds he had created. He remained squatting in front of her, glancing down at the ground for a second, and then back up, squinting. “What’s your name?” he asked her for the second time, wondering if she would again refuse to answer him.

“Bashea,” she replied softly.

“Bashea,” he repeated. “That’s pretty.” Her gaze shifted from one of his eyes to the other with an unreadable expression on her face. He watched Bashea, frozen by her beauty, until Radeem’s loud snoring rudely broke the spell she’d cast. He laughed. “He’s a jewel, that one.” He gestured over his shoulder. Radeem’s head had fallen back against the tree trunk, his mouth open wide as he slept. Tahj got up to retrieve a blanket and spread it over the sleeping man, still laughing quietly.

“He is your brother?” she questioned upon his return.

“What? Radeem? No. My friend.” He busied himself by searching through the bag for a minute. “I’m Tahj, by the way.” He held out his hand, and she slipped her slender one into it.

“Prince Tahj?”

He frowned, rifling through the bag again. “I suppose. But prince of what?” he muttered, unwanted images of his slain mother and father filling his mind. A breeze blew, and she trembled again, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’ll get the fire started now.”

She started to stand. “I’ll help.”

Tahj laid a hand on her uninjured shoulder. “You just relax. You’ve had enough action today.”

Clearing a spot in between the trees, Tahj collected brush to start his fire. He pulled a flint box out of one of the packs and soon had small flames leaping to life. As he returned to Bashea, he found her face even more bewitching in the firelight.

“That feels good.”

“Hmmm?” he responded absentmindedly.

“The fire. It feels good.”

He stirred himself to respond to her. “Oh, yes. Well, I’m sure a bigger one would feel even better, but I don’t want to take any chances on being discovered. We’ll just have to stay close. To the fire, that is,” he added lamely, but Bashea didn’t seem to notice. She was staring into the fire, mesmerized by the dance of the flames.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“I’ll be right back. I want to find a boulder or something to rest our backs against.”

Tahj’s lopsided smile sent a strange shiver through Bashea. She looked down, afraid he would notice. After a second, she laughed at herself, shaking her head. Thick, wavy black hair, perfect, bronzed skin, a face that looked like it had been chiseled by a master, and that tantalizing flash of white teeth—what was not to like? But it was foolish to get all gaga over a man, and she was no fool.

Bashea watched him leave the already comforting ring of light from the fire, feeling a sort of pang as he slipped away into the dark. She glanced over at his friend, who was oblivious to it all, and wondered over how she had gotten where she was, in the middle of the woods with a handsome prince and a loveable buffoon.

Not for the first time, she thought about her family. Would they be sitting around a fire now, too, telling tales as they were the night she was abducted? Was Gaspard relating a story he read in some book he dug up, or was Bagrat horsing around with Jahmeel, coming dangerously close to the fire as they sparred with one another? Bashea hugged her knees closer, ignoring the pain it caused her shoulder, even as she was unable to ignore the pain in her heart. She rested her forehead on her knees and let hot tears roll down her cheeks where no one could see them, face buried in the little valley of her legs.
Seconds later, hearing the crunch of a stick, her head sprang up and she hastened to wipe away the tears.

Tahj had searched through the brush and now came back, emerging from the dark with a five-foot section of log laid across his shoulders, arms looped over it like a yoke. He grinned at Bashea, obviously pleased with his find. Carrying the log left pieces of bark on his shirt, and long, smeared lines of gray to go with the red streaks of blood. Whether they were from their earlier fighting, or her own wound, she wasn’t at all sure.

He would have looked almost comical if he weren’t so darn good-looking, she thought. His right sleeve was ripped from shoulder to forearm, and, as he shifted his hands so they were underneath the wood, she could see the ripple of his biceps and felt an unwanted stirring in her blood. Tahj straightened his arms out over his head with very little effort, and the display of strength had her fighting back a sigh. He dropped the log to the ground with a dull
thump
and rolled it with his feet until he got it where he wanted it, near the fire. He planted a boot on it triumphantly.

“Our couch,” he said, bending and waving his hand gallantly along its length.

He approached and reached down, sliding his large hand behind Bashea’s good shoulder to help her up. She scrambled to her feet, shying away from his touch as much as she welcomed it. After she was comfortable by the log, he sat down next to her, crossing his legs in front of him. They sat quietly at first, surrounded by the night rhythms of the forest, the lazy sound of crickets chorusing with the popping of some of the greener kindling the fire consumed, and the deep bass of Radeem’s snores. The pair soon was enjoying the soothing sensation of fire-roasted faces and clothes, even as the cool air chilled their backs to balance out the heat.

“How’s your shoulder?” Tahj asked after a while.

“A little sore,” she said hesitantly, “but, all in all, I think it could have been a lot worse.”

He nodded in agreement. “Where are you from, Bashea?”

She liked the way he said her name, with care. She stared into the leaping, yellow-blue flames and sighed. “We call it Tamook. It’s just a little village near the bottom of Mount Sabalan, to the north. My people are a nomadic tribe,” she explained. “We herd sheep and move from place to place to find pasture.” She felt embarrassed to be a mere sheepherder in the presence of a real prince, even though in her own tribe she was considered a princess, the daughter of the chief. But it was hardly the same, princess of a wandering land full of sheep dung, compared to prince of the glorious city of Avistad. She’d heard wondrous things about the city and all the goods that could be found there, all the things that could be done there, for the right price.

Tahj picked up a stick and idly played with the fire, trying to find a way to form his next question. “I’m sorry…” He stopped and started again, laying the stick aside and turning to her. “They took you away from your home, those men
?”

Even in the firelight, he could see her cheeks flush. She quickly looked away from him, staring blindly again into the dance of flames. After several seconds had passed, she answered. “Yes.”

“We will take you home, then, tomorrow.”

She looked at him, her eyes wide. “You’d do that?”

“Of course.” Reading the surprise on her face, an idea occurred to him and, his voice a bit panicky, he questioned, “You didn’t think I ordered, or had anything to do with what those men—”

“No,” she said quickly. “I didn’t think that.”

But he could tell it was a lie. He studied her profile in the flickering firelight. She still didn’t trust him entirely. Her face still held the cuts and bruises from her tormentors, but it was no less beautiful, with a sense of pride and strength, framed with those tumbling black curls. She was unusual, this girl, and he found himself longing to unlock the secrets of her heart.

She drew her knees up and rubbed her arms. Tahj rose, and her eyes darted in his direction, still cagey and frightened. “I’m getting you a blanket.” She nodded, but didn’t speak again, going back to gazing into the depths of the fire. What was she thinking? Was she remembering the awful things that had happened to her the night before?

Tahj picked his way over the uneven ground to where the horses stood dozing. He pulled off the other blanket, which was rolled and tied to the back of the saddle. He stood for a moment, one hand on the horse, the blanket tucked under his other arm, and watched her. She was unaware of him, absorbed in her own thoughts. She was completely enchanting, magic in the firelight, intriguingly as fragile as she was strong. The holes he found in the cool distance she tried to maintain, the moments when she dropped her guard enough to let him in, fueled his desire to tear away all boundaries between them. He walked slowly back to her side, but she still jumped when he drew near.

BOOK: Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION)
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